Newshare scheme will help Newham residents to get on the housing ladder

A new shared equity scheme has been brought in by Newham council. This scheme, called Newshare, will initially provide 1,220 affordable homes for families who are unable to afford a property purchase on their own, with the potential to expand even further in the future.

Newham Council presently has about 21,000 people on the waiting list for housing, one of the biggest waiting lists in the UK. Newshare will increase the number of available homes, as residents on the waiting list will be first in the queue for buying a property, and for every council property which is transferred to the scheme, the council can buy or build four new properties to offer for shared equity. When council tenants buy one of the properties on the list, their vacant council house will be used to house someone else.

With increasing property prices, home ownership is increasingly out of reach for many people, but schemes such as this one will help people to buy affordable homes and enjoy a settled life in the local community. This scheme is open to anybody who lives or works within the borough of Newham.